Structural Integrity

Gold

%

300m

Annual

Plot

2024

N/A

All

TNFD, Nature Positive Initiative (NPI), CSRD (ESRS E4), SBTN

Structural Integrity refers to the physical intactness of an ecosystem. This includes the size, shape, and connectivity of natural habitats. A landscape with high structural integrity is caracterized by large, connected areas of natural vegetation, free from significant human modification. When ecosystems become fragmented by roads, agriculture, or urban development, their structural integrity is compromised. This can isolate populations of species, disrupt ecological flows, and make the ecosystem more vulnerable to external pressures.

The methodology assesses landscape structural integrity as the percentage of core habitats, that is contiguous habitats of a minimum patch size.  We apply a quality-weighted core habitat quantification that accounts for both habitat quality and spatial configuration. It is based on the Global Human Modification (GHM) dataset, which quantifies human pressures such as urbanization, agriculture, infrastructure, and extractive activities on a scale from 0 (unmodified) to 1 (fully modified). Areas with HMI values below 0.4 are classified as habitat, and a 300 m erosion process is applied to identify core habitat by removing edge-affected areas. This distinguishes large, intact habitat patches from fragmented landscapes, even when total habitat area is the same.  Core habitat pixels are then weighted according to quality, with more natural areas receiving higher scores and modified areas excluded. These weighted values are averaged within a 5 km radius and normalized to produce a structural integrity score ranging from 0 to 1, where higher values indicate larger amounts of high-quality core habitat.  The selected parameters are supported by ecological research and reflect species’ landscape-scale responses, habitat modification thresholds, and the typical extent of edge effects.